By KHT Staff. Images via KH City Govt.
KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said Friday that the city’s public childcare network will expand to 88 centers by the end of this year, a move he said will fulfill the goal of placing at least one public childcare center in every district.
Speaking at the city’s Beautiful Mothers Awards Ceremony (美力媽媽頒獎典禮), Chen said Kaohsiung would next work toward the longer-term goal of establishing one public childcare center in every elementary school zone area.
Chen said staffing remains central to the city’s childcare policy. He said the city has raised salaries for public childcare workers three times during his term and increased pay for other professional staff. He added that quasi-public childcare workers are eligible for long-service bonuses, while staff at public and private infant care centers can access free psychological counseling.
For home-based childcare workers, Chen said the city provides additional subsidies for insurance premiums, health checkups, and psychological counseling on top of the central government’s quasi-public childcare policy.
Chen also said Kaohsiung was the first city in Taiwan to introduce transportation subsidies for prenatal checkups. He said the subsidy has since been increased and now provides up to NT$9,000 per pregnancy, with use extended to within one year after childbirth.
This year’s awards ceremony recognized 40 recipients, including veteran police radio broadcaster Chan Mo-hui-yun (詹莫慧筠), who continued public service and charity work after being diagnosed with cancer at age 40; Kao Bing-ren (高炳仁), a father recognized for taking on a maternal caregiving role while caring for a child with a rare disease and other family members; and Chang Lan-ying (張蘭英), who has spent 16 years in foster care and has cared for 13 children.
